Introduction
Within the Penda service, each Learner Account contains information that allows us to provide a personalized learning environment for each Learner and
meaningful reports on their activity and progress. That information is stored and used consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
That information is completely under the control of your School, and we take seriously our role in storing and processing that data on your behalf. This section
details the data content, how it is created and stored and the various rules that govern its use. Please note, this relates specifically to Student Data uploaded to our
server by or under the direction of your school. We have a separate policy for data supplied by individuals in our
PRIVACY POLICY. Some capitalized terms are
used in this policy statement. They are defined in our
TERMS OF SERVICE.’
What student data is used?
We store the following data for each student: First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Unique ID and/or Unique Student Identifier (USI), Grade, Class, Gender,
Ethnicity, Race, Native Language, Eligibility for Free or Reduced Price School Meals, Eligibility under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
Attendance, Disciplinary record; Homeroom (for secondary schools)/Teacher’s name (for elementary school); and Interim or Formative Test Data in the basic
skills area. Additionally, a record of the exercises completed and results achieved is stored in each Learner Account when the student uses Penda.
Why is student data needed?
Student Data is only used to create Learner Accounts for individual progress tracking. We undertake not to use Student Data for any commercial purpose. The
Student Data supplied by schools does not contain email or postal addresses or other contact details for Learners and we do not ask Learners for additional details
after they login. Registration Group, Year Group and Classes are used to generate Progress Reports. These contain the First Name and Last Name of learners.
First Names are used on welcome screens and screens showing users’ marks. This is done to give a sense of ownership. Date of Birth combined with initials is used
to generate User IDs for learners to login. USI is used to match student records for students moving to another school. This allows us to provide schools with a
progress report for new students who have used Penda at their previous school. This is particularly useful for students moving from elementary to middle or junior
high schools or from the latter schools to high schools. USI is also used to match pupil records for statistical research to evaluate the program. USIs are accessible
only to staff performing these functions and are not accessible by users of our website or our own staff. For this reason, USIs do not appear anywhere on our
website or on printed progress reports. Unique ID Numbers are used to match students whose details may have changed since last year. We use an Admission
Number because other details (e.g. Last Name) may have changed and a USI is not available for all pupils. Ethnicity and Eligibility for Free or Reduced Priced
School meals are used to evaluate whether Penda is equitably serving all student demographic groups.
How is student data created?
Initially, Student Data can be sent as a CSV or TSV or an Excel Spreadsheet and uploaded by us on behalf of the school. Authorized staff in Schools can also
create and modify Learner Accounts manually.
Who controls student data?
Your school controls your Student Data, and you can add, modify and delete student data without our involvement.
We only store your Student Data while there is a formal agreement between us and a student’s school district – as a subscriber to the Penda service or during a
pre-arranged formal evaluation.
Security
We store Student Data on a secure server. This means that we use encryption technology and firewalls in an effort to protect the information from being accessed
by anyone else. Teachers and Learners are assigned passwords that attempt to protect access to the system and ensure that only teachers and Learners in your
school can access your Student Data. Please understand, however, that we do not warrant as fail-proof the security of information provided by or submitted to
us. Due to the nature of Internet communications and evolving technologies, we cannot provide, and we expressly disclaim, assurance that the information you
provide us will remain free from loss, misuse, or alteration by third parties who, despite our efforts, obtain unauthorized access.
Family education rights and privacy act
Parents: Schools and school districts that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education are responsible for maintaining the privacy of your child’s
student education records consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The school or school district must annually advise you of your rights
under that law. The law permits the school or school district, without written parental consent, to disclose personally identifiable information from your child’s
education records to Penda, as a contractor to the school district, for the purpose of providing and evaluating educational services to children in the district’s
schools. Penda uses the data for the purposes and in accordance with the safeguards described in this policy.
Usage data and performance result
Students can view their own usage data, marks and personal details. Members of staff can view usage data and marks for students in their school. While details
of specific schools or students are never released without permission, Penda aggregates usage data and marks for statistical analysis and research, which may be
published and used to provide comparative data to other schools and bodies interested in education. Penda provides written reports to our main contact at each
school/district once a month, during term-time. These reports include aggregated data by year group, subject, outside school task hours use, etc. They may also
include usage and performance data about individual students. Two or three times a year, a copy of these reports may be sent to other school or school district
staff members. We usually obtain these staff members’ details through Training Attendance Form.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about our use of Student Data, please email
support@pendalearning.com.
